I have no idea what the legal situation is in France. I know that you are legally obliged to give assistance at the scene of an accident in France but this wasn't an accident so I don't know what the situation is. To be honest it wouldn't stop me trying again anyway. The Gendarmes were not interested in me at all , they took no details and didn't ask me any questions so I think their view is we were genuinely trying to help and they just accept it at that. The paramedics only wanted to know how long we had been giving him CPR in order to assess what they needed to do but that was the only question I had from anyone.
I think as long as you have the basic knowledge of how to administer CPR there is really no reason , certainly no legal reason, to prevent you trying. That's why getting trained is so important